Thinking about a semi-auto for deer hunting, a 308 or 30-06.

Any experiences, good or bad, with either one?

Will,

As you know, semi autos were banned here in dear old Aussie after the Port Arthur massacre.

So, I not talking from experience; but I sure liked the look of and the write ups it received, for the Benelli R1.

I'd bloody love one

Will,

My experience is that the BAR will give you a longer service life with fewer extraction problems than will the 7400. I had a BAR in .338 WM and it worked fine for years. Upon the acquisition of a very, very nice .338 Wm Bolt rifle I passed the BAR along to my middle son. He still has it.

I acquired an M7400 in .308 as a beater rifle for the farm. After 3 or four years it started having extraction problems. Even with a good cleaning, reaming of the gas port, a chamber polish and a new extractor ... it still does not work like it should. I am not impressed.

I have personally used two Remington 742s (one was mine, both were .30/06) that had extraction / ejection problems. I've also read a series of threads on another shooting board about similar problems with several of the new Remington 750 rifles.

On the other hand, I've seen a large number of happy BAR owners. I've never owned a BAR personally (just a BLR).

If I were buying today, I'd pay extra for the BAR.

Remington auto's are just not that dependable. I used to hunt w/ a 742 and if you didn't clean it very often it would jam. Then I switched to a 7400 that was alittle more reliable but, neither could hold a candle to a BAR. I've owned one BAR and shot a few others and I've never had one jam on me. Some BARs are quite accurate as well.

Good Luck

Reloader

I have a Winchester 100 in 308 that is used by several shooters who do herd reduction work on properties that are being managed for trophys. It has been used to kill well over 100 whitetail in the last 3 years and has functioned flawlessly using, mostly, whatever the least expensive 150 grain factory loads available were; Federal, Remington, or Winchester/Olin. I know that a lot of people don't like the Winchester 100, but this 1 has been nothing short of bullet-proof. Plus, the fact that they are well known as being "dogs" has kept the price down. I think that I paid $275 for this rifle.

Jeff

The Remington 740/742/74/7400 series is hardly known for its accuracy. They also have a reputation as prone to malfunction, but the ones I've had some contact with have been okay in this department.

The BAR, on the other hand, has a reputation for surprising accuracy for an autoloader. It also has a very good trigger, something almost never found on an auto. I have one in .270 (original, not Mark II) that functions to perfection and shoots as well off of the bench as the typical bolt action sporter.

I can't recommend the BAR over the Remington strongly enough. There are a few differences in the orginal BAR and the Mark II (or "Safari"), but I have heard on no problems with the newer gun.

Thanks for the replies.

It is too late now as I got a BAR in .308 Win. If it turns out to be a piece of crap it is you-guys fault.

Thanks.

Can't blame me you bastard

My pick was the Benelli R1...............

quote:

Originally posted by Will:
Thanks for the replies.

It is too late now as I got a BAR in .308 Win. If it turns out to be a piece of crap it is you-guys fault.

Thanks.

Did you get the BAR Safari or the ShortTrac?

Bill

Well, get to the range an let us know how she shoots.

Steve,

I got the lightweight one (the Stalker), with the genuine plastic stock!

Tony,

Will go to the range today to see if it goes bang.

Both the 7400 and BAR are unreliable pieces of junk. Get an M1A.

quote:

Originally posted by Will:
Steve,

I got the lightweight one (the Stalker), with the genuine plastic stock.

This one?
http://www.browning.com/products/catalog/firearms/detai...t_id=031&type_id=330

Or this one?
http://www.browning.com/products/catalog/firearms/detai...t_id=031&type_id=008

The reason I ask is that I am thinking about getting a BAR ShortTrac in 300WSM and I would like to know how they compair to the old Safari's.

Thanks

I purchased the exact gun, a BAR LW Stalker,
in .308 Win. I put a Bushnell 3200 Elite,
in 2-7x, on it, and it is one awesome
semi-auto rifle. Mine shoots .5 MOA, with
some handloads(130 gr. TSX/W-748) developed for
my Savage Striker. With 150 gr. SP ammo loaded
to duplicate the Winchester Silver box ammo, it
shoots about .8 MOA average groups. This off
season, I am developing some TSX loads for it,
and expect I will have it shooting .5 MOA or
better.

I sold my M7400, to finance part of the
switch to the BAR, and have never looked back.
I was a little concerned about the durability
of the aluminum receiver, and have been closely
inspecting for wear. I keep the mating parts,
coated with moly grease, and so far, no wear
is detected. As for accuracy, this rifle
doesn't give up much to my bolt guns, and
it goes BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG!

It would be perfection, if it weren't for
the crappy trigger. The travel on it reminds
me of a two stage. This off season, my
quest is to fix that. But even with the
crappy trigger, it is a reliably, sweet
swinging, brush country deer rifle.

Squeeze

ive got an older 300 win mag in a BAR.... made in the '80's as best we can guess... i shoot factory 150gr win... and i get 1 1/2" at 100, about 2" high.... i've taken 3 axis deer with it, longest shot was just under 150yds...i really like it...recoil is about like my garand, recovery for a 2nd shot is fast....i'd like to have a .338 win mag BAR also....

quote:

Originally posted by steve4102:

quote:

Originally posted by Will:
Steve,

I got the lightweight one (the Stalker), with the genuine plastic stock.

This one?
http://www.browning.com/products/catalog/firearms/detai...t_id=031&type_id=330

Or this one?
http://www.browning.com/products/catalog/firearms/detai...t_id=031&type_id=008

The reason I ask is that I am thinking about getting a BAR ShortTrac in 300WSM and I would like to know how they compair to the old Safari's.

Thanks

I got the second one listed. It is the first BAR for me and have no way to compare. Good luck with whatever you choose.

I bet you will be pleased with your BAR. It's the third I own, one in 30-06 and two in 300 WM; all proved to be totally reliable and quite accurate, with both manufactured and reloaded rounds. I personally don't care for any Remington rifle.

For the benefit of the forum, even though this is of little utility to the poster, I owned a 7400 in .30-06.
It was my first centerfire rifle. And, a total piece of !@#$. It wouldn't feed with any sort of bullet with even a slightly exposed lead tip. It tended to jam when the mag was loaded fully. It wasn't particularly fun to keep clean.

Besides this, the zero tended to wander for no reason. And yes, I checked the scope and mounts, they were not at fault as confirmed on another rifle.
And most of all, the best 100-yd group I managed even with premium ammo was 3.5". Just not up to par.

So, I don't think you could do badly with a BAR. I think there is no way it could be worse! I have long lusted after a BAR in 338 WM. Looks like an excellent mid-range elk gun. Of course plinking can with a .338 would be fun.... but expensive.

For those that might be interested. I only shot it today with 180 gr. Partitions (Fed. factory loads) at 25 yards.

Even the open sights were right on. I was shocked! Scoped, it was good enough.

And 5 rounds as fast as I could pull the trigger. No recoil. This could get expensive!

I'm happy with the BAR. Thanks guys.

quote:

Originally posted by Will:
Thinking about a semi-auto for deer hunting, a 308 or 30-06.

Any experiences, good or bad, with either one?

Oh, JA! I've had bad experiences with BOTH the Rem. and Browning semi-autos! I would recommend a Rem 760-type PUMP if you think you have to shoot fast! These work ALL the time!

And, just to lay it to rest, I used an M16 in Viet Nam for a year, so I DO know how to keep a fragile autoloader clean!

I have an older BAR in 30-06. It likes 168hpbt and 55gr 4350 about 1.5" groups.

Rich

quote:

Originally posted by El Deguello:

quote:

Originally posted by Will:
Thinking about a semi-auto for deer hunting, a 308 or 30-06.

Any experiences, good or bad, with either one?

Oh, JA! I've had bad experiences with BOTH the Rem. and Browning semi-autos! I would recommend a Rem 760-type PUMP if you think you have to shoot fast! These work ALL the time!

And, just to lay it to rest, I used an M16 in Viet Nam for a year, so I DO know how to keep a fragile autoloader clean!

El Deguello,

I had to chuckly at the "Lay to rest" comment.
Yup auto-magic rifles have to be clean to work

I have a M760, in .30-06 Sprg, and yes it
is reliable, but there is one operator
issue that should be noted. I was talking
to young lady deer hunter, that shoots this
rifle, in a .308 Win, and she and I have
the same problem. If after the first shot,
one does't really slam the forearm pump
forward, the action doesn't lock up, and
it won't go BANG. Since I am a semi-auto
guy, with latent bolt action tendencies ,
I constantly have to remind myself, "Jam
that pump forward!", I don't hunt this M760
often. I inherited it, when my Father passed
on, so it isn't going anywhere, but it sits,
looking pretty, in the safe most often.
I truely love my BAR. I concentrate on
the critter, and the gun works to chamber
the next round. Of course I am responsible
for keeping the BAR clean and happy with it's
food.

Squeeze

In the good old days pre 1996 I had several semi auto rifles.
I had a BAR in 270 win. It would shoot 1 inch groups at 100 yards with federal factory ammo.
I had 2 rem 742's. 1 bdl & 1 carbine.
The carbine would shoot 1 1/8 inch groups with win factory ammo.The bdl would shoot 1 1/4 inch groups with win factory ammo. Both of these were 308.
I also had a 308 valmet hunter. It would shoot 1 1/4 inch groups with win factory ammo.
I liked the valmet the best to use because of the weight [20 shot mag] and the gas tube on top of the barrel.Because of this design you could see all of your shots hit. Crows floating down in a cloud of feathers with a semi auto is very satisfing.Bad thing about valmet was it would throw empty brass a long way. It was very hard to recover empties.
The 742 rem were the best to recover brass from.
I didn't have any trouble with any of my semis but I did keep them clean.
My rifles were mainly used to shoot wild pigs so the BAR was at disavantage because no large capacity mags are availiable.
As you can tell I really miss my semi autos.
I still think about them. Yes it is like a death in the family.
Regards
hjl



i

I've not personally owned either but two Rem 742 rifles have been sent with me for sight in purposes....one in 30-06 ( a much older rifle) that shot well and functioned flawlessly.....the other a new 308 that shot poorly and turned out to be a single shot.....with only two rifles under my belt I have a poor opinion of the Remington auto.

I've had the same amount of exposure to the BAR.....two of them and both inb 30-06....both were reliable and accurate in the short time I had them.....which was long enough to shoot about 25-30 rounds from each.

I really will never understand Remington's continuing this model all these years as they have had a reputation as poor for the last thirty years!!!!

You made the right choice. I have owned both and firmly believe the BAR is by far a much better made rifle than the Remingtons; however, it's a little heavy for my liking. Also, I prefer the beligian made rifles. Lou

Good choice with the Browning. I have known some people who owned the Remingtons and they had nothing but extraction and feeding problems (they were kept reasonbly clean and only factory ammo was used). Three of my brothers and my father owned BAR's in different calibers and they experienced no problems with factory ammo.